CONSOLIDATING BUSINESS: With a blizzard keeping traffic light on opening day, many exhibitors at Project were looking to pick up added business on the second and third days of the show.
NY HUSTLE
Project Exhibitors Hustle for Business Amid N.Y. Snowstorm
NEW YORK—One day after a historic snowstorm dumped two feet of snow on New York, menswear trade show Project opened its doors for its Jan. 24–26 run at the Javits Center. The storm cut into traffic on opening day, but exhibitors scrambled to rebook appointments and make the most of the remaining days of the show.
“It was basically a two-day show, said Gilles Suetens, national sales manager for Gardena, Calif.–based Howe. Suetens had booked a few showroom appointments before the show, but he was hoping to open new business at the show.
“We did open two new accounts,” he said on the last day of the show.
At the Robin’s Jeans booth, sales reps were rescheduling missed appointments, but the last day was “fantastic,” said founder and designer Robin Chretien.
The company was showcasing its collection of embellished jeans, T-shirts and new accessories, such as belts, backpacks and shoes.
“People are coming over to congratulate me on the new store,” Chretien said. In addition to the new Beverly Center store in Los Angeles, the company is planning to open three more this year in Florida, New York and Colorado.
“The people we work with, they want to open shops-in-shop—1,000 square feet—to show the jeans, the T-shirts, the accessories,” Chretien said. “They want to do what we do here [at the trade show] in their retail store.”
At the Tents at Project, Jeff Shafer, founder, designer and chief executive officer of Agave, said, overall, traffic was steady.
“There was no time when it was completely dead and no time when it was overwhelmingly packed,” he said between appointments on the last day of the show.
The last day of the show was also good for New York–based premium-denim brand 3x1, according to Executive Vice President Rachel Lamel.
The collection started five years ago as a retail concept in SoHo founded by the Paper Denim and Cloth’s Scott Morrison. Initially, each pair of denim was made in the SoHo store. As demand grew, the company began outsourcing larger orders. Today samples and limited-edition product is made in SoHo while larger orders are produced in Los Angeles, Lamel said.
At Project, Lamel said she met with some out-of-state buyers and most of the orders were for pre-Fall and Fall merchandise.
Exhibitors were taking advantage of the ShopTheFloor photo studio, where brands could have their looks shot for ShopTheFloor, the online platform launched by Project parent company Advanstar.
Photography service Spin My Planet was demonstrating the capabilities of its 360-degree photography and app during the show as well.
